Improvement in gate-fastenings



NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE..

IVEBB BROOMHALIJ, OF OIRCLEVILLE, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT IN GATE-FASTENINGS.

Specilication forming part of Letters Patent No. 5 IA l 7. dated December 12, 1865.

To all trhom 'it may concern.'

Be it known that I, WEBB BEooMHALL, of Gircleville, in thc county of Pickaway and State ot' Ohio, have made new and uset'ul Improvements in Fastenings for Gates; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ot' the nature, construction, and operation ot' the same, sut'- tcient to enable one skilled in the art to construct and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying; drawings, which are made part otthis speciiication, and in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view ot the same. Fig. 2 is a section on theliue .fr Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section on the line y y, Fig. 1.-

The improvement consists ot' a springt-astening, which is attached by a vertical axis to that tace ot' the stile ot the gate which is adjacent to the gate-post, closing against the said stile as the gateis pressed shut, and then expanding into a rabbet in the post to retain the gate in a closed condition.

A B are the stiles ot' the gate; O, the slats; D, the cross-pieces, E, the brace; F, the post to which the gate is hinged, and G the post against which it shuts.

The fastening consists ot' one or more pallets or catch-plates, H, on a rod or axis, l, which is journaled in eyes or straps J to that face ot' the stile A which is presented to the gate-post G. This axis is bent over the top ot' the gate-stile, and again assuming the vertical at K, forms a handle by which the axis ot' the latch is rotated, releasing the catchnl il l plates II from their engagement with the rabbet L in the post. The staple M restrains the motion ot' the handle within certain limits, though therangeot' motion ofthe catch-plates is directlyT controlled in one direction by contact with the stile ofthe gate, and in theother by the means ot' the bolt N, Fig. 3, whose nut` O in the handle Pis capable of being adjusted' so as to allow the catch-plate the required motion to occupy the depth of the rahbet in the post.

One or more ot the catch-plates has a spring, Q, Fig. 2, beneath it, so a-s t0 give the catchplates a determination outwardly to maintain them within the rahbet when the gate is closed, and to spring them into it after the plates have been pressed against or toward the stile A as the gate is being closed.

The pressure ot' the catches against the post has a tendency to prevent the sagging ot' the gate.

Having described my inventiomwhat [claim therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

rlhe catch-plates attachedv to the Vertical axis, adjusted by the bolt, operated by the.

spring, and engaging in the rahbet ot' the post, substantially as described and repre sented.

vWEBB BROOMHALL. Witnesses JOHN ALEXANDER, JAsoN CASE. 

